The Tampa Bay Angler

Boutny Fishing Tournament Sept 13th-19th

2010-09-11T10:22:00.003-04:00

There will be a new Bounty Fishing bass tournament for the Southern region from Sep 13th through Sep 19th. The first place winner will receive $250! To sign up, click the link below, it's free! The cost to enter the tournament is then $7 a day or you can fish all 7 days for $19. The angler with the longest bass at the end of the week wins! The contest also pays out the next 4 places as well.

Bass University Coming to Kissimmee Nov 6th and 7th

2010-09-08T13:34:00.006-04:00

The Bass University is a 2-day class/seminar put on by Bassin' Magazine for advanced anglers looking to go to the next level of fishing. This years hosts will be Mike Iaconelli and Pete Gluszek and the classes will be taught by 6 of the top pro anglers! This season's first stop will be in Kissimmee on November 6th and 7th at the Westgate Vacation Villas and Town Center and will be the only stop in Florida. Unfortunately, it's the same weekend as the Xtreme Classic on Lake Seminole so I won't be able to attend but I would recommend getting to Kissimmee for this seminar if you have the weekend free! Here is the skinny:

Location:

Westgate Vacation Villa's and Town Center

2770 Old Lake Wilson Rd.

Kissimmee, Fl 34743

407-396-8523

Special room rates available from $59-$135

Price:

Adults $225

Kids 16 and under $175

Students, Fed. Nation, TBF members $200

Get more info and register at www.thebassuniversity.com

Snook Season to Remain Closed by FWC

2010-09-06T02:30:00.003-04:00

The FWC met for 3 days in Pennsicola this past week and one of the topics on the agenda was whether or not snook season should remain closed and if so for how long. Their decision for Gulf waters was to keep the season closed for the next year! This also includes Everglades Park and Monroe County waters. The season will open for harvest on September 1st, 2011. Anglers may still target snook but they must not keep or posess one until the season reopens. The FWC decided on the Atlantic side to open the season this year from Sept. 17th-Dec. 15th then close the season until Sept. 1st of next year. This is due to the unusually harsh winter of prolonged sub-freezing temps. in Florida.

Here is a link to a recap of the 3-day meeting: http://www.myfwc.com/NEWSROOM/10/statewide/News_10_X_PostCommSept.htm

Florida Sportsman Fishing and Boat Show

2010-09-01T08:54:00.006-04:00

The dates are all set for the 2010 Florida Sportsman Fishing and Boat Show in Tampa. It will take place September 25th and 26th at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall. The event goes 10am-5pm on Saturday and 10am-4pm Sunday. The weekend will include seminars from the best anglers in the area, deminstrations, tons of tackle on sale, and demo boats you wish you had! Admission is $8 for adults and free for children 12 and under with an adult. Click the link below to got to Florida Sportsman's site and a $2 off coupon to the show.

www.floridasportsman.com/shows/coupon

Other Florida show:

West Palm Beach

September 11-12, 2010

South Florida Fairgrounds

Snook Season Will Remain Closed

2010-08-06T19:16:00.005-04:00

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission will extend the closure of snook season to Sept 16th as the snook population tries to recover from a record cold winter. It is still legal to catch snook during the closure but an angler may not harvest or possess a snook. The FWC will reassess how the population is progressing later in the season and may close it further upon review. You can read more on this subject at: www.snookfoundation.org

Win an Airrus Rod at Bounty Fishing

2010-08-05T14:45:00.003-04:00

There will be a new Bounty Fishing bass tournament for the Southern region from Aug 8th through Aug 15th. The first place winner will receive $250 plus an Airrus Rod! To sign up, click the link below and sign up for free. The cost to enter the tournament is then $7 a day or you can fish all 7 days for $19. The angler with the longest bass at the end of the week wins! The contest also pays out the next 9 places as well.

Cheating scandal at U.S. Open rocks bass-fishing community

2010-08-04T16:07:00.002-04:00

This is a pretty crazy story coming out of California! A California tournament angler by the name of Mike Hart was caught cheating in a WON Open Tournament in California by placing lead sinkers in the belly of the fish that he caught to increase the weight and thus his placement in the standings and ultimately his earnings. People ask me all the time if people cheat in bass tournaments and I always tell them that we are a pretty tight knit group and that very little goes on because if you get caught your never going to be able to fish another tournament again! This guy will have a hard time not getting noticed in any tournament he trys to fish! He is subsequently banned for life from all WON Bass Tournaments and WON has stated to be pressing charges against Hart.

Here is the article from Pete Thomas of Grindtv.com:

Cheating scandal at U.S. Open rocks bass-fishing community

FOR SALE: Nitro 170 TF Rick Clunn Edit. 17ft

2010-07-12T13:44:00.005-04:00

I am selling my 1996 Nitro 170 TF Rick Clunn Edition bass boat. It has a 115hp engine by Tracker Marine (Mercury). $5500-OBO Here are some other features:

http://nitro170tf.homestead.com/index.html

Lake Tarpon Report July 5th, 2010

2010-07-07T17:51:00.019-04:00

After spending the 4th of July gorging on my buddy Kevins famous smoked ribs, watching my friend Jay nearly blow his hand off a dozen times, and drinking more than my share of Red Stripes it was time to relax, recover and do some bass fishing!

I took friends Kevin and Chris out on Lake Tarpon on the Nitro 929 Monday to see if we could hammer some bass after all the rain we've had. Should be a lot of run-off coming into Tarpon including from our main target Brooker Creek. Kevin was talking about a possible 100 bass day as the conditions seemed perfect with overcast skies and slightly lower temps than we've seen in the past few days.
The day started in front of Chris's house fishing his yearling infested (one-year old bass) man-made pond in his development. I was loading up the boat when I heard a Rat-L-Trap whiz through the air smacking something solid followed by an "OWW!" The first catch of the day would be Chris as he buried the barb of a rat-l-trap in his ankle. After a half-hour of digging around we finely got the barb turned around and snapped off. A little peroxide and a band-aid and we were on our way to Lake Tarpon!

After launching out of Chesnut at about 11:30, we started at Brooker Creek. There was a nice flow coming out but to our surprise there was very little action. We tried in the mouth and out in the surrounding flats but could only pick-up one small one. After an hour or so of working the creek we decided to head down the outflow canal towards the damn and see how that was flowing. We made a few stops and picked off a few schoolies along the way. When we got to the damn, the water was really flowing through but again the action was very slow and we came away from the damn with no bites. We worked back up the canal picking off a few more along the banks on our way back to Brooker Creek. We finished up at Brooker catching a couple more as the action picked up a little bit. Kevin caught a decent fish on a chug bug and I picked up a 17" fish on a junebug Bitters Sling. Overall, the total count was only 11 bass, just 89 short of 100!

Air temps: upper 80's

Water temps: 81 (76 inside Brooker Creek)

Overcast and Humid

Lake Tarpon Xtreme Series Tournament 6/19

2010-06-22T16:13:00.002-04:00

This past Saturday's Xtreme tournament on Lake Tarpon was a carbon copy of the past 4 tournaments for my partner and I as we had close to 10 pounds good enough for about 5th place out of 12 boats. We just can't get anything over 3lbs this year but we aren't the only ones! Limits are not so hard to come by but if you can reel in a 4 to 5 lb'er it seems you are set for 1st or 2nd. 1st place was again about 14 lbs with big bass in the 5 lb range. Gone are those 17-20lb stringers it used to take to place on Tarpon and where are those 8-9 lb big bass that used to come in every tournament? I'm not sure if it's the cold winter and hot spring or over-spraying of pesticide or cutting of the hydrilla fields or overfishing but the size is definately down on Lake Tarpon. The numbers are definately still there as my partner and I have been catching 20-30 bass each tournament. This past Saturday, we got most of our fish on the East side of the lake in about 8 feet on the outside edge of a grass line on texas rigged plastics. Don't think the color mattered as we used several different colors and got bites on most of them. The water temps were 88-89 degrees around most of the lake although we found an area that was around 85 degrees but with no fish:)

Online Bass Tournament June 7th-13th

2010-05-30T19:31:00.000-04:00

Bounty Fishing will be hosting an online bass tournament for the Southern Region from June 7th-June 13th. You must sign up for Bounty fishing.com which you can do by clicking the link below. You can then enter the tournament daily or weekly. The cost is $7 for a single day or $19 for the whole week. the top five largest (by length) bass at the end of the week will be awarded cash prizes. There are detailed instructions on the site on how to present your pictures and how to measure your fish. Cash prizes are as follows: 1st-$225, 2nd-$100, 3rd-$75, 4th-$50, 5th-$25.

Lake Tarpon Report 5/25 Tuesday Night Tournament

2010-05-27T13:05:00.000-04:00

I had a rare Tuesday night off of work so Kevin and I decided to fish the weekly Tuesday night tournament and try our luck with lakes best. We started off getting on a few fish in the northwest end but couldn't get anything over 12 inches so we moved across to the northeast side to fish some docks but nothing doing there either pitching Bitters Baits and chunking rattletraps. With an hour gone from the 3 1/2 hour tournament we decided to head south to our money spot where we picked up one keeper pushing 2 lbs. With about a half hour left and darkness settled in we decided to take a quick jab at one last spot and we hit paydirt! Unfortunately, we only had about 10 minutes to try and get a limit before we had to race back to the northend of the lake! I nailed a quick keeper on chug bug as they were popping everywhere in front of us! A couple minutes later I got another strike in the pitch darkness on a chugbug, this time she was giving me a good fight so I knew it was a decent fish! Trying to net a nice fish in total darkness can be a little tricky but Kevin scooped her up like a pro on got her in the boat. She went 18 inches and over 3lbs but it wouldn't be enough as we ran out of time and had to get back to the ramp for the weigh-in. We rolled in 4 minutes late so we decided not to weigh-in our 3 fish but would have had around 6 pounds. Around 14 pounds won the tournament with big bass about 4 and half pounds. Temp was a balmy 80-85 degrees with water temps around 87.

4 week Bass Tournament..Half Off!!

2010-05-23T13:24:00.000-04:00

Check this out! BountyFishing.com has put together a 4 week bass tournament with over $7000 in cash and prizes. You can compete on a daily, weekly or an all four week basis. The prizes are rewarded for the top ten biggest fish (by length), per week, per region. You can enter by the day for $7 or for the week for $19 or for all 4 weeks at $76. The first 1000 to register for all 4 weeks get half off! That's $38 for 28 days! As a bonus if you break the Florida State largemouth record you win a million dollars! I'm already signed up and ready to win some cash! If you want to get in on the action just click the link below and sign-up! And don't forget there is a largemouth tournament for the southern region June 7-13 and a FREE largemouth tournament from June 28th-July 4th.

Lake Tarpon Report 5/15- Xtreme Series

2010-05-17T14:59:00.000-04:00

We fished the 5th tournament in the Xtreme Bass Series out of Lake Tarpon this past weekend. We had a good tournament catching around 25-30 fish for the 3rd straight tournament but again it seems the big mama's are hard to find out there! We had our limit with a total of 10.40 lbs taking 5th place out of 11 boats. 14+ lbs won the tournament as it seems that has been the magic number every tournament out there this year! Big fish was again around 5lbs. We caught most of our fish later in the day fishing docks with Bitters Baits Slings and Kimani Senkos. I caught fish on Bitters junebug, blue w/ black tail, and rootbeer candy. I also threw black/ red flake, blueberry, and watermelon seed with no success. We caught a couple nice keepers in the morning on chugbugs but overall the topwater bite was a little slow. The worm bite for us was non-existant although the winners worked worms all day. The pattern for most of the teams was work fast until you find the fish and when you find them you have to hammer them because they are really schooled up in little pods. The air temp was low 70's in the morning and warming up to 90 in the afternoon. Winds were light in the morning but picking up quickly to 10-15 mph with gusts to 20 mph out of the southeast and turning into sw later in the day.

Lake Tarpon Report 5/8

2010-05-09T19:52:00.000-04:00

We fished the 4th annual Charity Bass Tournament for Breast Cancer yesterday on Lake Tarpon. We caught 25-30 fish all day and brought a 5 -fish limit to the scales weighing 9lbs with a 3lb kicker. We finished in the middle of the field of 16 boats with the top three spots paying out. First place weighed in around 14 pounds with the next two spots in the 12-13 pound range. We caught most of our fish on Bitters Slings with a few caught on topwater chug bugs and a few on texas rigged junebug worms. Air temps were pushing 90 degrees as was the water temp as it was 85-86 degrees in most areas. Wind was heavy at 10-20 mph with gust up to 25 mph. Seems like the fish are in a post spawn pattern and with the temps where they are, they will probably be moving into their summer hide-outs shortly!

Sea Trout Tournament by Bounty Fishing

2010-04-23T16:22:00.000-04:00

BountyFishing's tournament of the week for April 26th-May 2nd is for Sea Trout so make sure you sign up and get hunting for some gator trout! Bounty Fishing is free to sign up and the tournaments run for 1 week each paying out the top 10 spots. The tournaments cost $19 for the whole week or $7 if you are just planning to fish one day. You compete against anyone around the country that can fish for that particular species. We have a huge advantage here in the bay area because we have some monster trout! Make sure you click on the link below and get signed up!

Lake Tarpon Report 4/17/2010-Xtreme Bass Tournament

2010-04-19T11:34:00.000-04:00

Finally, we got some active fish as we fished our 3rd Xtreme Bass Series Tournament on Lake Tarpon this past weekend. The weather conditions were perfect on Saturday for a healthy bite and the bass did not dissapoint! Unfortunately, we couldn't get a kicker in the boat but we caught over 30 fish on the day with a 9-lb limit. The top three spots were around 14, 12, and 11 pounds respectively with big bass about 4.5 pounds.
We started the day on the East side of the lake using topwater and texas rigged junebug culprits mostly. They were hitting topwater for about the first 45 minutes but the action on top died off and we started getting bit on the T-rigs dragged through the grass and reeds. We were able to get one keeper (14 inch) on top water and one on a worm before moving in and getting two keepers off of docks with a Junebug Bitters sling. After several hours, we decided to move on in pursuit of some larger fish. We hit the mid-lake area on the West side and were able to find a little better quality but still no kicker. We got a few in the two pound range under docks and another two pounder in the grass on a lipless bait to fill out our limit at around 9-lbs. Overall, the weather was great and the fishing was excellent! Oh ya,and the new Nitro 929 ran like a dream!! Kev and I had a great time on the water and thats what it's all about!

Water temp:74-75 degrees
Air temp: 70-85 degrees
Partly cloudy, pre-front conditions
wind: calm in the morning,SSW 5-10 w/ gusts to 15 mph in the afternoon.

Bounty Fishing Bass Tournament

2010-04-16T15:11:00.000-04:00

BountyFishing.com is having a largemouth bass fishing tournament for the Southern region of the United States from April 19th-25th. The tournament is $19 for the week or $7 for any one individual day. It pays the top 10 spots with first place paying $225! Click on the link below, it is free to join and create a member page. You simply sign up at the site then follow the instructions to enter your fish into the contest! I am having fun with it although I have not won any cash yet! I am registered as Nowski so stop by my page if you sign up!

Lake Tarpon Report 3/20/10 -Xtreme Series

2010-03-21T13:44:00.000-04:00

We fished our second Lake Tarpon Xtreme Series Tournament of the year yesterday and again we had trouble locating keepers. We caught about 10 fish all day with 2 keepers (14in) weighing 3.14 lbs. The winners had over 12 pounds and there were several nice limits caught on a beautiful day with bluebird skies! Air temps started at about 50 degrees and warmed up fast to over 75 degrees. The water temps ranged from 60 to 66 degrees. The wind started calm in the morning but kicked up pretty good and was at least 10-15 mph most of the day shifting several times. We got both keepers on Bitter Slings, one on junebug and one on watermelon. We had no luck on lipless baits or texas rigged worms. Hopefully our normal money spots on Lake Tarpon will start producing with a warmer April!

Lake Tarpon Report 2/20/10 -Xtreme Series

2010-02-27T18:25:00.000-05:00

Feels good to back fishing Lake Tarpon on a regular basis again as my bassin' partner Kevin and I have decided to fish the Xtreme Bass Series Lake Tarpon Division after taking a year off. Unfortunately the fishing was slow for us as we couldn't seem to get any bites until the afternoon hours. We tried fishing canals and the mouths of canals early but couldn't find any fish as the water temps lingered around 55 degrees until the sun came out around 11:00am. The warmest I saw the water temp was 59 degrees and the air temps ranged from the high 40's to the high 60's later in the day. We only caught about 6 or 7 fish all day with 2 keepers for 3.60 pounds. We got one keeper on a rapala and a 2-1/2 pounder on a Bitter's Sling. I saw quite a few anglers fishing traps but I don't know how they did. Winning team had 13.10lbs with big fish weighing 5.55lbs. Second place had 10.58lbs. There were a total of 9 teams with 3 teams catching their 5-fish limit. Hopefully, with a little warmer weather we can get some more teams out there in the upcoming tournaments!

Bigger bait is the key to catching bigger fish

2010-02-06T19:51:00.000-05:00

Bigger bait is the key to catching bigger fish

North Tampa Bass Club-Lake Tarpon Tournament

2010-01-30T19:43:00.000-05:00

Well it was a struggle all day for me and my co-angler Eamon as we couldn't seem to muster up very many bites as we threw everything imaginable in countless spots! We started at the mouth of Salmon Bay (Anderson Park) throwing traps but couldn't get a hit. They must of turned on or moved in sometime after we left because rumor has it anglers from the Tarpon Toms Trail were slaying them there later in the afternoon. We headed south to the Cobbs Landing area where it was a little calmer and also where I got a few bites on Thursday but nothing doing today as I threw flukes, senkos, and texas rigged worms. Surface activity was non-existent as it was for the whole day. We then bounced around to John Chesnut area, south cove, mid-lake bar area, and several canals on the East side of the lake with still no fish. I had one hit under a dock but broke my line on the set. Very disappointing to work so hard for a bite only to have it break off! I missed a couple of other small hits through out the day as did my co-angler before heading back North to Salmon Bay for the last hour of the tournament to try and work some rattle trap magic! Unfortunately, my trolling batteries died on me so we had to do a couple of drifts ripping our traps through the hydrilla. I was able to get one 8 incher at 2:40 to save me from being skunked and then at 2:50 I nailed a 15 oz keeper to get me on the board! Thanks to Eamon for persuading me not to call it a day after the trolling motor went down! The winner was John McAllister with somewhere around 6 pounds caught on several different baits. Big bass was around 3lbs. The winners of the Tarpon Toms Trail had around 13 pounds with big bass around 4 pounds. Overall the weather turned out to be decent with no lightning and temps from 60-70 degrees all day although we did get rained soaked the second half of the day and the wind was howling! Water temps were between 62-64 degrees.

Lake Tarpon Tournament pre-fish 1/28

2010-01-30T19:24:00.000-05:00

I got out and pre-fished Thursday for my Saturday tournament on Lake Tarpon and I was able to stick a couple keepers but overall the bite was slow. Water temp was between 64-66 degrees and the air temp was around 70 degrees and the water level was very high. Got on the water about 11am starting in the sandy point area with no success. Hydrilla was much thinner in that area than normal as is the norm around the lake these days with the all the spraying. Moved across to the Cobbs Landing area and was able to get a few keeper bites but couldn't land them which is fine since I was pre-fishing. I missed 2 on a junebug trick-worm and 1 on a green pumpkin fluke. I moved around flipping senkos and flukes with no success except for a small keeper sized bass on a black/blue senko in the canal north of Dolly Bay. Overall, I couldn't establish much of a pattern bite I was encouraged to get a couple nice bites after the cold weather. We shall see what happens on Saturday!

It's official! Largemouth bass record tied!

2010-01-09T23:21:00.000-05:00

The International Game Fish Association announced yesterday that the 22 lb 4oz largemouth bass caught by Manabu Kurita in Japan last September has indeed tied the world largemouth bass record held by George Perry since 1932. The catch has been controversial as it was originally reported that the bass was caught in a no fishing zone in Lake Biwa. I am not sure if they found this to be true or not or whether it would effect the record if it was true.
In order for a fish to be declared the "world record" the IGFA must inspect the fish, usually cutting it open to make sure it's weight was not altered.

The AP release can be found here:
Largemouth bass certified a world record

North Tampa Bass Club

2010-01-07T18:06:00.000-05:00

North Tampa Bass Club is looking for new members for the 2010 season. We take both boaters and non-boaters but it is best if you sign up as a boater/non boater tandem. Points are all individual but anglers are allowed to fish with whomever they wish. Membership fee is $20 and tournaments are $30 with an additional $5 big bass pot. We fish a 10 tournament season with points for angler of the year given in each tournament based on finishing order. We fish lakes all over the state including Crooked, Kissimmee, Toho, Rousseau, Tarpon, ect. If you are interested, you can click here to get more info on signing up.

CapMel.com - Think deep thoughts to catch winter bass

2009-12-30T20:08:00.000-05:00

CapMel.com - Think deep thoughts to catch winter bass

For the record: The world biggest largemouth bass

2009-12-14T12:46:00.000-05:00

For the record: The world biggest largemouth bass

Lake Tarpon Report 12/10/09

2009-12-12T14:03:00.000-05:00

Due to the inclement weather, fellow North Tampa Bass Club member Greg Eagle and I decided to nix our planned trip to Stick Marsh/Farm 13 and spend the day on the much closer Lake Tarpon. We picked up some farm raised shiners at Fox's Corner just to make sure we had our bases covered and headed out to the lake about 9:00am. The wind was howling pretty good from the NE so we headed to the East side of the lake (more specifically the Hunt's canal area) and got started. We worked the mouth area of Hunt's with no action tossing worms and shiners. I was able to get one strike on a Bitters Sling inside the canal but I couldn't boat what felt like a small keeper. We moved south down the shoreline over the "roller coaster" where Greg's shiner got slammed but spit out just as quick. After little action there, I decided to head to the canals in Little Dolly Bay to see if we could pick off some small ones running crank baits down the middle of the canals. I was able to boat 3 on consecutive casts but that was it for the Shad Rap. We still couldn't drum up a fish on shiners as Greg trolled one behind the boat up and down the canals. Still working the canals, I was able to pick up 3 more shorts on a junebug Bitters Sling before Greg finally got one on a shiner pitching up on the edge of a dock. It would weigh-in close to 2-lbs and be the biggest fish we would lay eyes on all day! After fishing the canals, we headed south down the shoreline past "the wall" where Greg picked up a couple keeper size on Texas rigged trick worms in junebug worked on the edge of docks. From there, we headed to John Chesnut Ramp area where I caught 3 more small ones on a Texas rigged trick worm and missed a strike on a shiner and Greg got one more 2-lber on a Texas rigged trick worm. We finished up at Brooker Creek with no strikes as there seemed to be no water flowing out even after the recent rains. The total tally would be 13 fish for the day with Greg's 4 fish all measuring between 1.5 to 2-lbs and all bigger than anything I could catch on the day. The shiner bite was non-existent, at least on farm raised shiners but the hits on artificial were aggressive. The water temps were between 61 and 64 and the air temps were probably close to the same. Unfortunately we didnt get to fish Stick Marsh but we had fun and made the most out of cold nasty day!

New Florida Fishing Blog

2009-12-08T15:28:00.000-05:00

Check out Dunedin fishing guru Kevin McCarthy's new blog here.

"This site is being created to offer fisher people of all levels exciting and knowledgeable fishing reports, product info,weather/tide reports,fishing regulations,photos/fishing stories and recipes providing every person with the opportunity to have a great day the next time you are on the water."

Tarpon Tom's to Host Open Tourneys on Lake Tarpon

2009-11-11T10:41:00.000-05:00

Tarpon Tom's Bait and tackle in Palm harbor will host an open bass tournament on the second Saturday of each month. Entry fee will be $50 and the tournaments are %100 payback. I will post more details as more are available.

www.tarpon-toms.com

Camp Mack Open Results 10/31-11/1

2009-11-03T17:19:00.000-05:00

This past weekend marked the first tournament of the Camp Mack Open series out of Camp Mack on the Kissimmee Chain. They will have a total of 12 2-day tournaments leading up to a 3-day classic next December. Tournaments will take place on the first weekend of each month through 2010. I love fishing Kissimmee so I decided to try my luck against the locals. I think I held my own even though I placed around 11th out of 26 teams, most of which were local Kissimmee Chain anglers. I finished with my limit 5 fish each day for a 2-day total of 17.35lbs. The winner doubled me up with over 16 pounds each day and bagging both big bass awards with an 8.04-lber day 1 and an 8.05-lber day 2. 2nd place was around 23 pounds and I forgot the rest but will post the results once the are posted by Camp Mack.
Water temperature was 79 in the mornings, heating up to 85 by mid afternoon. Fish seemed to be somewhat active but most were caught on Culprit Junebug worms and Bitters Slings in blue/black fished slowly.

For more details on this series go to www.campmack.com/CampMackOpen.asp

UPDATE: HERE ARE THE RESULTS FOR 10/31-11/1

Lake Tarpon Open Night Tournaments

2009-10-20T16:48:00.000-04:00

This taken from a listing on Craigslist:

OPEN BASS TOURNAMENT TUESDAY NIGHT 10-20-09 . 6:00PM-9:30PM. ALSO TUESDAY 10-27-09 . 6:00PM- 9:30PM. ENTRY FEE IS ONLY $30.00 PER BOAT.PER TOURNAMENT.
1 OR 2 ANGLERS PER BOAT. ARTIFICIAL ONLY. SO IF YOU CAN FISH..... COME ON DOWN. FOR MORE INFO CALL JOE @ 727-455-6209
COME HAVE FUN.. HOPE TO SEE YA!!!

Lake Panassofkee Report 9/26/09

2009-10-20T16:34:00.000-04:00

Fishing was slow for the North Tampa Bass Club this month with 6 lbs 4oz taking first place on Lake Panasofkee. The river seemed to be the best place to find keepers as 3 of the top 5 spots were all fishing there. The main lake was still cloudy from previous rains as well as the Withalacoochie backing up and reverse flowing into the lake. By the time we got there, the river had again begun flowing out as usual and at a fairly good current at that. Soft stick baits and flukes fished weightless in Watermelon seemed to be the bait of choice worked along the weed lines in the current. Top bass honors went to John McAllister for the second week in a row and 3rd time this season at 3lbs 1oz. Thanks to the gang at Tracy's Point for the hospitality as usual!

Lake Tarpon Open Night Tournament

2009-08-02T17:06:00.000-04:00

North Tampa Bass Club will be holding an open night tournament on Lake Tarpon on August 22nd, 2009. Tournament will begin at 5:00pm and weigh-in is at 1:00am. Entry will be $80 with an optional big bass pot of $10. For more info on the tournament go to www.northtampabassclub.com and click on the link at the bottom of the home page.
You can also contact me at nowski85@yahoo.com or 727-946-8998

Lake Toho Results NTBC/Xtreme May 30th

2009-06-09T15:46:00.001-04:00

May 30th marked the 6th tournament of 2009 for The North Tampa Bass Club and it was held on Lake Toho. We managed to elude the rain and high winds for a pretty good day on the water! The pattern for the day seemed to be find running water and you will find the fish! Not sure if that was 1st place winner Calvin Boyettes pattern but he brought 11lbs 15ozs to the scales for his second victory in as many tournaments for the new comer, nice job! My partner Kevin McCarthy and I got lucky and found some running water up in a canal and managed to do fairly well. I landed big bass for the day at 5lbs 11ozs and Kevin caught a 4-11 tossing our baits up in the current and letting it bounce in the rocks and off the bottom. I got mine on a black and blue jig with a pork rind trailer and I think Kevin got his on a jig as well. I also picked up a few on junebug culprits and one on a swimbait to fill out my limit and take 2nd place with 10lbs 12ozs. 3rd place was Phil Hankins with 10lbs 5ozs and a 4lb 13oz kicker. 4th place was Tom Moore with 9lbs 13ozs and 5th place was Brad Arnold with 8lbs 13ozs. A total of 23 anglers caught 55 fish weighing over 104 pounds with 3 limits caught. ...X-treme One Man Series was on Toho as well. They had 88 participants and some very nice weights and big bass as well! Jeremy Smith took 1st and $5000 with 24.53lbs. Big bass was taken by Corbin Dyer Sr. at 8.21 lbs. Overall they had 9 anglers at over 19 lbs and 16 fish over 5 lbs weighed in! A lot of guys were fishing the mouth of Shingle Creek as I counted 22 boats there at one point!

My Review of Minn Kota® Maxxum 80/BG/Hand Freshwater Bow-Mount - 24v-80lb-52"

2009-06-09T13:55:00.001-04:00

The Sports Authority

The Maxxum® freshwater bow-mount trolling motor from Minn Kota® was designed with tournament-tested power and innovative fishing features that serve one purpose: keeping up with die-hard boaters like you.

Great trolling motor!

Nowski Tampa, Fl 6/9/2009

This is an excellant trolling motor. It's not real difficult to mount either. It's very easy to use and has great power at 80#'s of thrust. I would recommend getting an extension for the handle though.

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Lansbrook Golf Course Report 5/21

2009-05-26T15:42:00.000-04:00

With all the recent rain, I was feeling the itch to get out on the water so I recruited local Lansbrook fishing guru Kevin McCarthy and we headed out to some of our old spots to see if we could catch a few bass while not getting struck by lightning. We mostly hit a few golf course ponds as well as the firehouse lake near the YMCA. We started out with both of us getting a couple decent bass in the firehouse lake, mine on junebug Culprits and Kevin catching his on a lipless crankbait. We then hit the course fishing mostly lilly pads in a few feet of water. I started out pretty hot continuing to get them on junebug Culprits with a few small ones on a silver Shad Rap. I was up 12 fish to 6 at one point but Kevin tied on a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper in bullfrog and started yoking out fish on rapid fire! When it was all over, Kevin came out the victor with a 15-12 fish come back win and big bass to boot with this 3lb 9oz'er on a Texas rigged worm in the pads. I think he had 10 fish overall on the Skinny Dippers in about an hour and half! I think we have just added a new bait to our arsenal!

Lake Rousseau Report 3/28

2009-03-28T20:59:00.000-04:00

Wiinndy! With wind gusts up to 30mph fishing our North Tampa Bass Tournament was a little difficult today to say the least! Throw in a stump filled Lake Rousseau and it's a recipe for disaster!
My co-angler Greg and I battled the wind and stumps for a good part of the day but managed to put together a couple of decent 5-fish limits to finish 1st and 4th respectively and more importantly not go over board in the process! We ended are day out of the wind by fishing some docks in the canal by the Bass Avenue ramp with both of us filling out our limits there. The mix of wind and submerged timber lay downs everywhere was a challenge as at times we felt like we were in a bumper boat bouncing off stumps just trying not to fall in! Greg took advantage of the early morning bite before the wind kicked up and nailed 2 nice bass on a white spinnerbait with gold willow leaf blades and 2 more nice ones on rattle traps with one going 4.15 and winning big bass. I on the other hand had to scramble most of the day picking up a fish here and a fish there to piece together an 8lb limit. We both filled up our 5-fish limits hitting a row of 3 docks in a northside canal with junebug senkos/Bitters Slings. I was hoping the shad rap bite would be on as it was last time I was on Rousseau but it just wasn't there today so I did what I could catching one on a texas-rigged Culprit worm in x-mas, one on a shad rap, and 3 on junebug Bitters Slings under docks. Greg finished up with 11.11 lbs winning his first tournament of the year and probably putting him in 1st place in the AOY standings. Overall, we had 18 anglers catching 39 bass with 4 limits.

Lake Kissimmee Report 2/28

2009-03-03T14:32:00.000-05:00

We held our North Tampa Bass February tournament at Lake Kissimmee out of Thomas Landing this past Saturday with several nice bass being caught but only a few 5-fish limits. After a rough start to my morning I was able to put together a small limit before screwing up at the weigh-in and only weighing in 4 fish!
I started off by going to what I thought was my "secret" spot on Kissimmee but in the darkness of the morning or maybe I just wasn't awake yet, I completely mis-calculated and found myself on Philadelphia Point. It looked great so I decided to start there. The bite was slow for me in the morning as tried topwater frogs, traps, worms, trick worms with no luck. The water temp was about 64 to start with the air temp around 60. As the sun came up and heated the water a bit the action started to pick up. I nailed a nice keeper of a small point of grass but half way to the boat he spit my culprit. That was the only bite I would get on a curly tail worm so I switched to a trick worm to see if they wanted something with a little less action. It took over a half hour but I finally got a bite on the trick worm and it was a nice one! After a couple leaps she looked to be about 3 pounds and a good start but as I got her to the side of the boat she got stuck in some Kissimmee grass and before I could get here free she freed herself of the grass and my hook! I was dissappointed to put it mildly but it gave me some confidense to start pounding the trick worm with reckless abandon! About 20 minutes later and around 10:00am, after three missed fish, I finally land a keeper! She would go almost 3 pounds and I can now get the missed fish out of my mind! I went on to pick up 2 more small keepers on Philladelphia Point before heading to the "spot". Somehow along the way I got side-tracked and decided to hit an area in the Tiger Cove area as it looked very bassy. I was only able to get a one short in about a half hour so I took off. I decided to skip my spot for now and head to some docks in the Kissimmee River/Camp Mack area. Water was very murky and I just wasn't feeling it so I decided to head out to the "spot" and see if I can't get two more keepers to round out my limit. When I arrived I had only about an hour 'till weigh-in so I went to work. It only took about 10 minutes to get my fourth fish of an outside weed edge on a junebug texas-rigged trick worm. With about 15 minutes left, I finally catch my fifth keeper on the same bait and I happily head back to the dock with a small but hard worked limit! This is where it gets heart-breaking (at least for me)! I am tournament director so in the midsts of trying to get set up and get my fish weighed, I missed one of my keepers getting stuck in my weigh-in bag! I just bought a new Gator Grip bag with a mesh insert and he got his gills stuck in in the mesh as I dumped the bag into the tub. I even unwittingly looked into the tub and said "4 fish, 4 alive"! Oh well, I guess I was just destined to not got my limit on this day! Overall I had 5lbs 11ozs officially with 1st place weighing in 10lbs 8 ozs, 2nd-10lbs 7ozs and 9.9, 8.0, and 7.0 respectively after that. Big bass was won by John McCallister with a 6 pound 11 ounce bucketmouth caught on a black with blue flake senko. Oh, and the fish stuck in my bag survived after patiently waiting for the weigh-in to end:)
Water temps: 64-70
Air temps: 58-85
Wind: Calm in the morning, 10-15mph in the afternoon

Lake Kissimmee 2/26 Pre-fish

2009-03-01T19:05:00.000-05:00

I pre-fished Thursday for our North Tampa Bass Club tournament on Saturday and the fishing was really tough as were the conditions. I launched from Thomas Landing on the west side of the lake at about 8:00am and it was immediatly apparent that wind was going to be an issue! It was blowing from the north east at about 10-15 mph with gusts to 20. I started on the west side of Lemon Point as I was looking for the Pig Trail but mis-calculated! It looked great anyway (what doesn't on Kissimmee?) so I put the trolling motor down and went to work. I tried flipping a few different plastics bit it was tough to get off any acurate casts as I was being muscled around by the breeze. I tried to anchor up and pitch to some pads but it just wasn't working and I was getting frustrated so I made a run to the south side of Lake Hatchinea to get out of the wind. It worked as I was able to flip and work a worm around in a couple feet of water with ease but the fish just didn't want to cooperate so after 20 minutes I bolted back down the Kissimmee River and decided stop in the Ox Bow where Camp Mack is located and flip some docks. After flipping some senkos around for a half an hour with still no bites I decided to run back out to Kissimmee and try and figure out my next move. I made the decision to head down Tiger Creek to Tiger Lake and see what was going on there. After the fun filled slalom that is Tiger Creek I arrived at Tiger Lake and immediately loved what I saw. Long docks everywhere with patches of grass in between. The water was cypress stained but clear enough to see the bottom in a three feet of water. I pulled out my junebug Bitters Slings and went to work. It didn't take long before I pulled a small 10 incher out from under a dock. I had missed him on the first throw but he came back for it on the next. Finally a fish at 1:00pm, now I can stop thinking about the skunk! I kept at it and pulled another small one out of grass patch 10 minutes later. I thought I was on to something and kept working the grass and docks all the way down the shoreline but those would be my only two fish of the day. If I was fishing a tournament, I would have gone back and worked the area where I found the two fish but I was prefishing so I needed to keep searching. At 4:00pm I decided to call it a day and hope for better conditions on Saturday for my tournament! At least I got some sun and didn't get skunked!

Thomas Landing
3952 Sam Keen Rd
Lake Wales, Fl 33898
863-692-1121

Lake Tarpon Report 2/23

2009-02-23T17:55:00.000-05:00

Got out and messed around on Lake Tarpon yesterday for a few hours with mixed results. I started fishing about 1:30pm in Salmon Bay (Anderson Park) throwing a trap in the hydrilla with no bites in about a half-hour. I saw little surface activity or baitfish so I moved on. I tried a couple deeper residential canals with a rapala shad rap again for about a half hour with no hits. Again, no surface activity so I moved on to another spot. I tried the John Chestnut area, working some senkos around the shoreline but the Sunday traffic was to much so I again moved on. I decided to hit a canal on the west side of the lake where I figured there to be clear water and there are usually at least some small fish this time of year. I threw a Bitters Sling in X-mas (junebug with red and green flakes) and started to get some bites. I caught my first largemouth about 3:30pm under a dock at the mouth of the canal measuring 15 1/2 inches and close to 2 pounds. I continued down the canal tossing my Bitters Sling under pontoon boats while chatting with a resident sitting on his porch having a beer. He told me the fishing has been so-so and that the females haven't really moved up to spawn yet. I noticed a few nests with a few small males scattered around but nothing over a pound. I got two more small ones on the X-mas slings before exiting the canal and focusing on a line of docks in the mid-lake area. I got one more there at 5:00pm measuring 15" under a dock and decided to call it a day. Total came out to 4 bass-2 keepers and one missed at the boat. Temps were around 70 with water temp about 64. A small front basically moved in the whole time I was out there but only dropped the temp a few degrees. Either way it was nice just to get out land throw some casts!

Frank Sargeant Outdoor Expo and Boat Show

2009-02-19T20:44:00.000-05:00

It's time for the 18th Annual Tampa Tribune Outdoors Expo and Boat Show hosted by Frank Sargeant (formaly The Frank Sargeant Show) to take place at the Florida Fairgrounds Expo Hall starting next Friday the 27th and goes through the Sunday 1st. It's Florida's largest outdoors family event featuring the latest in fishing equipment, hunting gear, boats, and a variety of outdoor products and services held in the Expo Hall and Sweetbay Entertainment Hall. Along with a kid's fishing derby, there will be numerous demonstrations and seminars each day. Show hours are Friday 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is always one of the better fishing expos in the Tampa Bay area so I recommend checking it out! Be sure to get a schedule of the seminars because there is always talented local and national speakers giving away lots of useful tips! Oh, and Friday is always Free!!

Admission: $8
Kids under 12 are free

Florida State Fairgrounds
4800 N. US Hwy. 301
Tampa, FL, 33680

Pair of Benefit Bass Tournaments @ Camp Mack

2009-02-11T22:03:00.000-05:00

There are a pair of benefit tournaments that will be taking place within the next month at the Kissimmee Chain out of Camp Mack. The first is taking place this Saturday the 15th of February and will benefit Jacob Ellis who is the grandson of Brenda Lacy and was diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately I don't have many details on Jacob or the tournament other than the weigh-in is at 2:00 and the contact number is 863-696-1108 for Camp Mack. If I get more details, I will pass them on but anything you can do to support this tournament will be greatly appreciated I'm sure! The second is The Barbara "Boo" Allen Memorial Tournament in support of the Good Shepherd Hospice. It will take place March 15th out of Camp Mack as well. Entry will be $75 and will pay back 5 places so get out there and support these tournaments if you can!

Tarpon Tom's Shiner Tournament Date Announced

2009-02-06T15:55:00.000-05:00

A date has been set for this years annual shiner tournament on Lake Tarpon put on by Tarpon Tom's Baitshop. The tournament will take place March 14th, 2009 out of Anderson Park in Tarpon Springs. You can sign up early at Tarpon Tom's or pay at the ramp. Entry will be $150 and rumor has it shiners will be included this year! Winners are usually in the 25-30lb range for 5 fish!

For more info contact:

Tarpon Toms Bait and Tackle
36217 US 19
Palm Harbor, Fl 34684
(727)-772-0708

Lake Tarpon Tuesday Night Tournaments

2009-02-04T17:18:00.000-05:00

Starting March 10th, there will be open tournaments taking place every Tuesday night on lake Tarpon out of Anderson Park. They run 6:00pm to 9:30pm and will take place every Tuesday night through October with a 2-day classic at the end. Entry fees will be $30 per tournament. For more information, call Joe: 727-455-6209

Lake Pierce Report 1/31 - North Tampa Bass Club

2009-02-04T13:32:00.001-05:00

The chilly weather didn't stop a few people from catching fish but overall the bite was a little slow as expected. Temps were around 38 degrees to start the day with water temps around 58 degrees with both air and water temps eventually warming to 60-62. We had our first ever tie with Kevin Hayton and Brad Arnold each bringing 7lbs 15ozs to the scales. Big Bass was won by Kevin Hayton for a 5lb-8oz largemouth. Rick Bayn took 3rd with a 7lb-10oz bag, Greg Eagle fished rattle traps to a 6lb-12oz 4th place finish and Keith Kozelsky took 5th with 5lbs-13oz and a 4lb-10oz kicker! I arrived around 11:30am due to a late night at the office but I managed put a small one in the boat and break off what felt like a nice one. Final results will be posted here:
www.northtampabassclub.com/standings.htm

North Tampa Bass Club Starts a New Season

2009-01-27T15:46:00.000-05:00

North Tampa Bass Club will frigidly kick off the 2009 season this Saturday January 31st at Lake Pierce in Lake Wales. Temps are forcast to be in the 30's at blast off but the sun is expected to come out and warm us up and hopefully the bass! North Tampa holds 10 tournaments and a 2-day classic each year with an Angler of the Year crowned. Membership is $24 with entry fees being $25 per tournament with an optional big bass pot of $5. For more information, check out our website at www.northtampabassclub.com

Dunedin Causeway report 1/5

2009-01-07T19:35:00.000-05:00

I Headed out to Dunedin Causeway on Monday with fellow anglers Kevin and Dave for a day of kayaking in the sun and a few trout to boot! With my truck being the only able kayak carrier, the Durango was turned into a kayak moving machine as Dave and I somehow jammed two 14ft kayaks in the back and a 15 footer on top! We got a few looks on the way but she got the job done! We first stopped at Get Hooked Bait and Tackle on the Causeway to meet up with Kev and get some shrimp. They hooked us up with some monster shrimp, thanks Daryl! We then headed to the first bridge on the causeway where we launched and started our day of fishing.

We got out at about 11:45am with low tide being about 11:15am. We paddled out on the flats for about 10 minutes and decided to take a few casts. Before I could get my anchor out, Dave is hooked up! As I am fiddling with my kayak and trying to get a shrimp out, Dave lands a nice 20+ in trout. It looked like it was going to be a good day! Dave quickly hooks up with another keeper and takes a lead he would keep all day finishing with 4 trout. The fishing was pretty slow for me though as I only managed 2 dink trout with a few missed bites but enjoyed the day off in the sunshine! Every once in a while I would hear Kevin shouting that he was on and at my guess I would put him at 3 trout with all of them being keepers. The prize of the day was a 24 inch gator trout caught by Dave, his personal best! Next time I will get a picture!

Get Hooked Bait and Tackle

209 Causeway Blvd

Dunedin, Fl 34698

727-733-4665

North Tampa Bass Classic-John's Lake Results

2008-11-19T17:33:00.000-05:00

We finished up 2008 with our 2-day Classic tournament on John's Lake this weekend for North Tampa Bass Club and the bite was not what we usually expect from John's Lake. Saturday started off slow for my co-angler and I as we started in the cut entering Clear Lake. There was absolutely no surface activity most of the day and bites would turn on and then off just as quick! My co-angler John McCallister got his limit of 5 fish for the day with 5.12lbs I believe and I managed 3 fish for 3.12lbs all in Clear Lake. We got most of the keepers on the dock line on the south side of Clear Lake with a bunch of small ones mixed in. I was using my Bitters sling baits in black and John was using black with blue flake (yamamoto I believe). We got a few keepers on a hydrilla line we found on the other side of Clear lake as well using 7.5 inch Culprits in Junebug. The wind was kicking pretty good most of the day making it a little difficult as my trolling motor is on it's last leg and has very little power! The water temp was between 68 and 72 the whole day and the cloud cover lingered for most of the day. Not bad conditions especially for what the forcast was for Sunday!
Sunday morning started off with the air-temp around 40 and the water temp around 68 but the wind seemed to hold off for the first hour giving us a chance to maybe pick a few off before that wind starts howling. We started on our hydrilla line and I managed to get two hits in the first half hour or so but missed both. I knew that would be huge as it was going to be the kind of day were five bites might be all I see! We wound up getting nothing at that spot so we moved to docks were we started getting some hits. By this time it was about 10:00am and with a noon weigh-in we needed keepers bad! I managed one quickly but that would be my only keeper for the rest of the day. John managed to pull 3 off the docks to finish the weekend in 3rd place. Nice tourny John! Steve Jarret won the tournament with 11+ lbs and will maybe leave a comment on where he was fishing:)

John's Lake Report -Prefish 11/13

2008-11-16T21:12:00.000-05:00

Got out on John's Lake for about 5 hours on Thursday to pre-fish for our 2-day Classic for North Tampa Bass Club to be held on Sat/Sun 15th-16th. I started out at 7:30am at the cut between the two main bodies of water with no bites and no surface action what so ever. This would be a recurring theme for most of the afternoon as I hit every corner of the lake including Black Lake, The Horse Shoe, Southwest corner, the cut leading to Clear Lake, and finally Clear Lake at about noon. In Clear Lake, I immediately got a small one on a rapala shad rap of a boat launch right at noon. Followed that 15 minutes later with another small one under a dock and then nailed a strange looking 4.8 pounder under a dock 5 minutes after that. I decided I found my starting point for the weekend and packed it in for the day. The 4.8 pounder was actually 23 inches long which would usually put it at about 6-7 pounds easy! Very skinny as you can see from the pic!

I will give Classic results tomorrow....

Castaways-2009 Small Boat Trail

2008-10-29T16:52:00.000-04:00

Castaways Bass Fishing will host a tournament trail in 2009 for small boats (17 feet max and 40hp max). The tournaments Kick-off on January 24th at Lake Reedy and ends with an end-of-the-year Classic at Lake Marion on October 24th, 2009. It is a team trail and costs $50 per team and a $15 yearly membership fee. For more information and a full schedule of tournaments go to http://www.castawaysbassfishing.com/

or contact Johnny Lockaby at 813-833-5786

Lake Tarpon Reports

2008-10-28T15:52:00.000-04:00

Thursday October 23rd

Went out on Lake Tarpon for about 3 and half hours and did pretty good. Got on the Lake about 12:30 and the wind was howling! I worked a lipless crank bait (that shall remain nameless) all around the north end catching 3 shorts. I moved to mid-lake area and and caught 3 keepers in about 25 minutes with 2 and a 3 pounder all on the same lipless crank. They were hitting it well as the waves were pushing the baitfish all over the place.

Saturday October 25th
Tournament-North Tampa Bass Club

With another windy day in store, I planned on throwing my lipless crankbait with reckless abandon and that 's exactly what I did! The only thing was the bite just wasn't there today. I stuck with it far to much as I kept catching small fish, thinking I was going to get that big bite if I keep cranking. I eventually stopped cranking and targeted docks. The fish were there but it was becoming evident that it just wasn't my day as I lost a fish that was in the 6-8 pound range. With less than an hour left in the tournament I got several more bites but could not land them, one being about a 2 and half pounder. I finished the tournament with an unbelievable 0 fish on my home lake but somehow held on for Angler of the Year. This was one of the toughest days overall I have fished on Tarpon!

Maiden Voyage on the Kayak

2008-10-16T23:51:00.000-04:00

I bought a kayak a few weeks ago and I finally got to get her out today! My Dad has owned one for a few years now so we got together and launched at Crystal Beach for a few hours of paddlin and fishin! My main focus was just to get out there and feel it out as I have never been out on a kayak before but I was definately getting in a few casts! It was a little shaky at first but I quickly got the hang of it. We headed north out of Crystal Beach and after about a mile or so we decided to stop and throw some shrimpies out. We located a deeper cut along some docks and it was loaded with fish! My Dad got things started with a small trout, his first fish on his yak and I quickly landed my first fish, a small snapper. A few minutes later, my shrimp got railed and my drag was screaming! After a several minute fight, my fish still hadn't shown itself. After initially thinking it was a red, I was convinced it was a snook as it kept going on serious runs and dragging me around in circles! I finally got a good look at it and realized it was a nice Jack! Not bad for the first day on the Kayak! All-in-all, it was a beautiful day on the water and we managed about 9 fish between us in a few hours. Looking forward to many days with pops out on the kayaks!

Last Stop, Harris Chain!

2008-10-15T20:23:00.000-04:00

Well it's taken me all year to do it but I have finally taken over the points lead for Angler of the Year for The North Tampa Bass Club. It has been kind of a struggle as I started the year cold as usual and missed a tournament in March putting me behind the eight ball. I needed a big tourny somewhere along the way and I got that at Rousseau with a 16.10 pound bag and a 7.01 big fish in May that would catapult me into the top three. A 7.01lber at Kissimmee gave me enough to pass the leader Kevin Hayton (who didn't fish because of boat problems) with one tourney to go! So here we go into the final tournament with approximately a 4 lb lead over second and a 6 and 7 pound lead over third and fourth respectively. I plan on coming out strong and holding my lead! Good luck to all my pursuers, lets get it on!

Big Zero at the Big "O"!

2008-10-13T14:41:00.000-04:00

We had are 2 day end-of-the-year classic tournament for Xtreme Bass Series on Lake Okeechobee out of Roland Martin Marina in Clewiston this past weekend and the fishing was as tough as I have ever faced! My partner Kevin and I couldn't manage a single bite in 3 days of fishing! Thank you Roland Martin for putting a Tiki bar in your resort! The conditions were not particularly bad so I am not sure if we just couldn't find the fish or they just didn't want what we had to offer. We did fish a multitude of different baits in every color of the rainbow in every presentation we could think of in countless number of spots so it couldn't be us right? Had to be those moody Okee-bass! Actually only 75 teams out of 126 weighed in fish on day one. The rumor was that the high water (15 feet) had the fish really spread out and it took some work to find them. Some of the spots we fished included Coot Bay, East Wall, West Wall, Rita Island, Dynamite Holes, Uncle Joes Cut, Uncle Joes Trail, and all up and down the Rim Canal. The guys that did well all seemed to have had fished the north end of the lake. We heard that it took anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half to make the run from Clewiston and for us to make that run would probably be closer to 2 hours if even possible in the windy conditions and my 17 foot bass boat. The winners had somewhere around 35 pounds and won a new Ranger 198 VX with an 200 Evinrude for their efforts! All in all, we had a great time, got to meet lots of new people from different trails, and it was great to finally fish Okeechobee even though it got the best of us this time!

http://www.rolandmartinmarina.com/

Over an hour wait at registration went by a little quicker with a few cold ones. Here's Kev trying to decide which one to start with!

Grass beds as far as the eye can see! Where do we start??

Lake Kissimmee Report 9/27

2008-09-27T21:45:00.000-04:00

We had our September tournament today for North Tampa Bass Club on Lake Kissimmee with 15 pounds even taking the top spot and I took big bass honors with a 7.01 pounder!

Weather was perfect for most of the day with temps maxing out about 88 degrees with a nice northerly breeze early but turning to calm later in the afternoon. I debated before the launch on whether to lock-down to the Kissimmee River and look for moving water or head to the south side of Brahma Island and work some toads in the endless lily pad fields. I've never had much success locking down to the river and I love throwing frogs so Brahma it is!

My co-angler John McAllister and I headed out at 6:45am with a 20 minute bug filled ride through the darkness towards Brahma looking to hook into some biggins only to make a horrible discovery when we got there. My trolling motor wasn't working and I had no idea why! After an hour of checking every connection 5 times, I discovered we had a dead battery! We were faced with only one option, switching the cranking battery to the trolling motor and switching it back every time we needed to start the big motor and hope we had enough juice for both!

Now it's 8:00am and I haven't thrown a cast yet! I saw some surface activity and decided to give my trusty Rapala Shad Rap a try and about 3 casts in I nail something huge! My drag wouldn't stop screaming and I wouldn't stop screaming "NET! NET!". After about 10 seconds of my drag screaming I realized it's either a world record bass or the more likely, a giant mudfish. Close, I tail hooked a 3 foot gar. At least it got my mind off the battery problems and got me concentrating on fishing!

Ahh, I finally get to work some lily pads! It didn't take long before I was fighting another monster only this time I saw it slap my Junebug Culprit on the surface so I knew it was a bass! A 7.01 pounder in fact that would eventually win big bass honors! This was the only fish either of us mustered up at south Brahma so after about an hour we decided to make a move. We made another 20 minute run to just past Philadelphia Point to work a spot where some hydrilla mixes in with some Kissimmee grass. There seems to always be a large concentration of smaller fish with a few keepers mixed in and today was no different. John picked up 3 keepers mostly on texas-rigged trick worms and I managed one on the same which unfortunately would round-out my day at 2 fish for 7.14 lbs. We finished off the afternoon working the boathouses in the canals with no success. My 7.14 was good enough for a 4th place payout and I will post the rest of the places once they are posted to the NTBC website.

Lake Tarpon Report 9/22

2008-09-22T17:54:00.000-04:00

Got out on Lake Tarpon today for about an hour and half, mostly just to run the boat as it has been idle for a month but also to take a few casts and see how they're biten! Got out about 2:30pm and it was hot and muggy, probably 90 degrees with the wind out of the north at only about 6-7 mph and the water level seemed slightly higher than normal. Skies were overcast with some threatening clouds in the distance that eventually pushed me off the lake. In the small amount of time I was out there I was able to establish a dock pattern and get 3 non-keepers boated before giving in to the storm clouds. I was using 5" Bitters Slings in their rootbeer candy color. If you are not familiar wiith Bitter's Slings, they are put out by Bitter's Bait and Tackle in Longwood, Florida. They are what is commonly known as a senko, sinko or stickbait as some call it. I have fallen in love with them and they have been my go-to bait for the past several years. They are a little tougher than a Yamamoto Senko, which is the most widely known soft stick bait, but still have the action needed to make the Bass crazy! I order a years supply online as they are only stocked in a dozen or so bait and tackle shops around the state. The employees taking my order have always been very nice and helpfull and I recommend their baits over all other! Check out their website at: http://bittersbaitandtackle.com/

Florida Sportsman Show coming to Tampa

2008-09-12T15:49:00.000-04:00

The Florida Sportsman Magazine will host the Florida Sportsman Fishing and Boat Show in Tampa on September 27th and 28th, 2008 at the Florida Fairgrounds Expo Hall. Cost will be $8 for adults and kids get in free with an adult. The show will consist of seminars, fishing boats, demonstrations, kid clinics and countless merchandise for sale and display. Saturday hours are 10am-6pm and Sunday 10am-5pm. For a schedule of seminars, list of merchants, directions, ect. visit their website at http://www.floridasportsman.com/shows/tampa//index.html

Upcoming shows:
Tampa Sept 27th-28th
Jacksonville Nov 8th-9th
Orlando Nov 15th-16th

Lake Toho Challenge

2008-09-08T23:33:00.000-04:00

Angling Against Cancer will host it's 9th Annual Lake Toho Challenge team tournament on November 6th, 7th, and 8th at Lakefront Park in Kissimmee with the winners taking home $20,000 in cash! Entry Fee will be $525 per team on or before Nov 3rd and $550 after the 3rd. Part of each entry fee will benefit Florida Hospital's cancer research and treatment at their Celebration location. For more information go to http://www.anglingagainstcancer.com

We're Going to Okeechobee!!

2008-08-30T14:05:00.000-04:00

The site for The Xtreme Fishing Series Classic Championship was finally announced yesterday and it will take place on Lake Okeechobee October 11 and 12th. It will be out of Roland Martin Marina in Clewiston http://www.rolandmartinmarina.com. I have mixed feelings about it being on The Big "O", I have never fished Okeechobee and was hoping for a lake or chain of lakes that I am familiar with but with that said, I am very excited to finally get out there to fish! The water level is about up to par at 14' above sea level, up from about 12' before Tropical Storm Fay. This opens up a lot of new area to fish that was either dried up or too shallow before the rains. The Army Corps of Engineers is looking to drain some of the water back out in anticipation of another storm as the max or danger level would be about 17'. Hopefully, they will keep it near 14'!
See article:http://www.miamiherald.com/news/top-stories/story/661805.html
Last years Classic on The Kissimmee Chain saw 150 teams battle it out with the winners taking home a $40,000 Ranger and the top 25 overall finishers getting a check. My partner Kevin and I managed 66th place with just over 13 pounds for 2 days of fishing. Engine trouble restricted us to only a few areas near Camp Mack but we were able to find some fish and make a respectable finish! Hopefully this year we will bring home a check or even a new Ranger!

Tampa Boat Show

2008-08-29T01:31:00.000-04:00

The Tampa Boat Show is at the Tampa Convention Center in downtown Tampa from September 5-7 2008. There will be over 700 new model boats to check out! I will be there checking out the new Rangers and Skeeters for sure! Cost is $9 for adults and kids get in free.

Show Hours:
Friday 10am-8pm
Saturday 10am-8pm
Sunday 10am-6pm

Check out their website for more details
http://www.tampaboatshow.com

TNT Schedule and Entry Fees

2008-08-28T22:49:00.000-04:00

The Florida TNT Series has released it's 2009 schedule and is as follows:

JOHN’S LAKE 1/31/2009 HIGHWAY 50 RAMP
LAKE OKEECHOBEE 2/28/2009 CLEWISTON
LAKE KISSIMMEE 3/28/2009 CAMP MACK
LAKE TOHO (ONLY) 4/25/2009 SOUTHPORT RAMP
LAKE ISTOKPOGA 5/30/2009 HIGHWAY 98 RAMP
CROOKED LAKE 6/27/2009 BOB’S LANDING
LAKE TARPON 7/25/2009 ANDERSON PARK
LAKE JUNE 8/29/2009 BISHOP PARK

I'm still not sure about divisions and what kind of point system they will be using, I will post that info as I get it. Also, entry fees are $40 per tournament and the membership fee is $30. They waive the Membership fee if you fish their open tournament on Lake Kissimmee 10/18/2008
http://www.fltntseries.com

Florida TNT Series to kick off in October

2008-08-24T15:39:00.000-04:00

A new Bass Tournament Trail is set to get under way in Florida on October 18th, 2008 called the TNT Series Trail. TNT is a partner trail formed for Tracker product owners (including Nitro boat owners). The first tournament will be what is being called a "get to know you tournament" and will take place on Oct 18th on Lake Kissimmee out of Camp Mack. It is stated on their website that there will be 3 divisions with an end of the year classic and a no entry fee top-ten tournament after that. The lakes for the the divisions have not been named yet so keep an eye on their website for updates. http://www.fltntseries.com/

Thanks for the info Joe!

For questions contact Joe Pepper at (813) 326-7565

Tropical Storm Fay

2008-08-22T13:36:00.000-04:00

Well, being that I was supposed to take my sister fishing Wednesday and my bosses nephew on Thursday, I hated to see Fay roll in and kill any plans to get out on the water. With that said the amount of rainfall we are going to get from this Storm will be crucial in getting some of our central Florida lakes back up to their normal water levels. The Winterhaven Chain has probably been hit the hardest in the past few years with the low rainfall. The canals used to navigate between lakes have all but dried up with the exception of a few larger canals. Being that this chain of lakes is one of my favorites to fish, I have been sad to see it continually passed up when we vote on lakes to fish in our bass club. Hopefully this storm will dump enough rain on Winterhaven to make all the lakes in this chain accessible again!

Introduction

2008-08-21T12:57:00.000-04:00

My name is Brad Baranowski and I am a Tournament Bass Fisherman in Florida. I fish about 20 tournaments a year so I created this blog to write about my days on the water and everything else fishing! I currently fish with The Xtreme Bass Series and The North Tampa Bass Club. The Xtreme Series is a State wide partner tournament series with 16 divisions. My division is fished exclusively on Lake Tarpon in Palm Harbour, Fl. The NT Bass Club is a draw tournament format and we fish at various lakes around the State.